FPS Deauville: Mann in charge

Like yesterday, Day 1B saw another huge field to create a record-breaking prize pool for the France Poker Series. Over 880 players put up €1,000 to make a field that breached the 1,300 mark. With numbers still to be confirmed as well as the prize pool, there's no doubt that Sunday will be providing one lucky player with the biggest prize ever given away on the FPS.

Day 1B chip leader Florian Mann

Unlike yesterday, where the chip leader was clear for the last two levels, it was very much different here with a bigger field. No player was able to make it past the 200,000-mark, let alone 300,000. For much of the second half of the day, it looked that Clement Genon-Catalot would be the overall leader, finishing as he did with 168,400. However, he was pipped at the post by Florian Mann, the Frenchman finishing with 175,000 to lead the Day 1B counts and put himself third overall.

Others weren't so lucky, including Eugene Katchalov and Matthias De Meulder, both of whom were unable get past the first day. The bustouts included several former EPT champions as Sotirios Koutoupas, Frederik Jensen, Michael Tureniec and Robin Ylitalo all tried their luck but came up short.

Even when the event finished, those still thirsting for more poker have the option of playing the Deauville Cup, a €300 single re-entry event with three start days (today being 1B). Romanian player Constantin Calea lead the 45 players who made it through Day 1A.. There were 193 entries yesterday with two more start days to go. Although this is the first time the Deauville Cup has been held, it's the equivalent of the Mini FPS which last year attracted 683 entries overall. Among the other Day 1A survivors are Annie and Jacky Noel, (husband and wife who both won side events here last year), French veteran Paul Testud, Erwann Pecheux, Timothee Marlin and Darko Stojanovic.

PokerStars player Gaelle Garcia Diaz finished day with an almost double-average stack

Tomorrow will see Day 2 of FPS Deauville take place from 12pm CET with the starting fields combining like Power Ranger Zords to create something suitably epic. The levels will be increased from 45 to 60 minutes and the bubble is expected to take place at some point in the afternoon. At that point I'll be switching to more traditional reporting and covering all the action as this tournament goes into the money. In the meantime, why not check out the rest of the news from the French Poker Series so far? Alternatively, there's all the latest news about the TCOOP or you can check out the Aussie Millions coverage where the tournament has reached the 'serious money' stage.

To get all the latest news, chip counts, seat draws and payouts, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android and IOS.